Turkish media disclosure, Portuguese media refute rumors! Jose Mourinho takes over Portugal? Let the "bullets" fly for a while

The reporter reported coldly On May 15, Turkish news agency (Haber Turk) TV revealed that Mourinho, the current coach of Fenerbahce, has reached a preliminary agreement with the Portuguese Football Federation to become the coach of Portugal after the final stage of the UEFA Nations League semi-finals in June, leading the team to the world preliminaries. However, so far, there have been no more follow-up reports from other media, and the Portuguese media have also found "voices to refute rumors" from the Portuguese Football Federation.

The news, which shocked the football world from Turkey, was published by Ahmed Kuller, a veteran of the television station. He revealed on a live television show that Mourinho, who has a strained relationship with Fenerbahçe's top management and fans, is ready to leave Turkey for the first time in his life to coach the national team, Portugal, despite the fact that his contract expires with one year to expire.

Kuhler said that the Portuguese Football Federation was unwilling to pay liquidated damages to Fenerbahce and had planned to invite Mourinho to coach again next summer when his contract expired. But Ronaldo's intervention changed the mind of the Portuguese Football Federation.

The Portuguese Football Federation believes that Mourinho's status gives him a unique advantage to balance Ronaldo's influence in the dressing room. After all, managing Cristiano Ronaldo is a complex and delicate priority within the Portuguese team. In order to make a breakthrough in next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the Portuguese Football Federation is willing to give Mourinho enough time a year in advance. The Portuguese Football Federation wants him to lead the team to the World Cup Qualifiers in September, and at the same time, they want Mourinho to try to persuade Fenerbahce to let him go for free.

Went to Chamourinho to coach Fenerbahce and signed a two-season contract. However, Fenerbahce did not perform well, 8 points behind the city rival Galatasaray with 3 rounds left in the league, and basically missed the championship, with 4 games, 1 draw and 3 losses against Galatasaray and Besiktas; The 1/4 finals of the cup were eliminated by Galatasaray; The Champions League qualifiers were eliminated by Lille in Ligue 1, relegated to the Europa League and then eliminated by Glasgow Rangers in the 1/8 finals.

With a poor record and tensions between Fenerbahçe fans and the media with Mourinho, he has long been thinking of leaving.

The Portuguese Football Federation has twice previously offered an olive branch to Mourinho, who was the favourite to become the new coach when Santos left at the end of 2022. But at the time, he had a year and a half left on his contract with Roma, and he had to pay a hefty termination fee. In the end, the Portuguese Football Federation opted for Martinez, the former coach of the Belgian team who was free to do so. However, Mourinho publicly expressed great regret afterwards. Mourinho has been a candidate for the head of the England and Brazil national teams for the past 20 years, but he has always put Portugal first.

This time, the Turkish media released rumors that Mourinho is in charge of Portugal, which is not without basis. Although Martinez has led Portugal to 11 consecutive victories, he has never beaten a top team during his tenure, losing to Georgia in the group stage of last year's European Championship and relying on a penalty shootout to beat an underdog like Slovenia in the quarter-finals.

In fact, back in early April, Portuguese journalist Rui Santos claimed that Portuguese Football Federation president Proenza had been keen to hire Jose Mourinho as a coach. At the end of April, Qatar's Be IN Sports and CNN Portugal revealed that the Portuguese Football Federation considered changing the coach due to dissatisfaction with Martinez's on-the-spot adaptability and tactical adjustment, especially the delicate relationship between him and Cristiano Ronaldo. In the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League in June, Portugal faced the host Germany in the semi-finals, and the winner who will face Spain and France in the final, if they cannot advance to the final, it is a good opportunity to change the coach.

However, the Portuguese media quickly published an article to refute the rumors, and the "Record" said that it was informed from the senior management of the Portuguese Football Federation that there was no contact with Mourinho. The executive also stressed that the Football Association will respect Martinez for the duration of his contract, and that the Spanish coach's contract will not expire until next summer.

Of course, this unnamed high-level refutation of rumors by the top of the Portuguese Football Federation can also be regarded as a kind of public relations rhetoric. During the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the "Record" revealed that Ronaldo missed the start of the 1/8 final against Switzerland, had a feud with coach Santos, and even threatened to withdraw from the World Cup. The Portuguese Football Association also refuted the rumors for the first time, but that time the "Record" chose a "hard bar", claiming that there were enough sources to confirm the relevant reports. In addition, during the Qatar World Cup, the Portuguese Football Federation also denied that it would fire coach Santos, but fired Santos soon after the team missed the quarterfinals, and paid up to 4.5 million euros in liquidated damages.

Therefore, whether Mourinho can coach Portugal as he wishes, I am afraid it will take time to tell.